Co-ops: Building Inclusive Communities

Co-operative Women’s Guilds
Women were conspicuously absent in leadership roles and even membership in early co-operatives. The co-operative women’s guilds changed all that. Established in the 1940s and modeled on organizations active in the UK since the 1880s, Canadian guilds encouraged women to take more active roles in the movement and provided a forum for addressing social issues such as women’s rights and improvements in the quality of consumer goods.* The guilds were heavily involved in co-operative education, taking a leading role in delivering programs that educated women about co-operative values and principles and facilitated the development of skills for leadership roles in their co-operatives and their communities. The local guilds also organized activities that provided venues for youth involvement, introducing them to co-operative values at an early age and often laying the foundation for a lifetime of loyalty and leadership within the co-operative movement.
*Ian MacPherson, A Century of Co-operation
QUINT Development Corporation
Formed in 1995, Quint Development Corporation strengthens the economic and social well-being of Saskatoon’s five core neighbourhoods through a community-based economic development approach. Quint is the hub for a coalition of inner-city groups seeking to make positive changes in their community. Quint’s accomplishments include employment and training programs, affordable apartment blocks, and supportive housing for mothers and children who are at risk and for formerly homeless young men. Its best-known initiative is perhaps the Neighbourhood Home Ownership Program (NHOP). Using a unique adaptation of the housing co-operative model, NHOP has assisted more than 100 low-income families to fulfil their dream of becoming homeowners. Quint has also partnered with CHEP Good Food Inc. to develop the Station 20 West Community Enterprise Centre, which will house a community-owned Good Food Junction Co-op food store.
Team Werks Co-operative
Formed in 1998 and operating out of Thunder Bay’s Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital, Team Werks is an innovative worker co-op that provides employment opportunities and support services to clients living with mental illness. The co-op’s aim is to develop work and life skills and aid in the recovery goals of its members. The co-op model provides the added benefit of giving members control of their own enterprise and their employment objectives. But job creation is only one component of the program, which also includes assessments, work placements, and job coaching services. Once they have gained the necessary confidence, skills, and experience, member-owners have the opportunity to move on to other employment in the community, if they so choose.
- Canadian Co-operative Association, New futures: Innovative uses of the co-op model
SEED Winnipeg Inc.
Formed in the late 1980s, Supporting Employment and Economic Development (SEED) Winnipeg Inc. is a nonprofit agency that works to combat poverty and assist in the renewal of Winnipeg’s inner city. It does this by helping low income and other marginalized people start small businesses and save money for future goals. SEED’s Community and Worker Ownership Program (CWOP) helps groups interested in starting or expanding a co-operative business as a means to create quality jobs for low-income individuals. CWOP assists in assessing the group’s skills and resources, developing a business plan, designing organizational structure, accessing financing, providing business management and professional development workshops, and offering support for at least two years after the business launch. SEED’s CWOP initiative has helped create a stronger, healthier, and more inclusive community in Winnipeg’s inner city.
-SEED Winnipeg’s website (www.seedwinnipeg.ca)
Saskatchewan Credit Unions
Saskatchewan credit unions build lives and fulfill dreams by investing in communities. In 2008, Saskatchewan credit unions contributed more than $7.8 million to community efforts. Through SaskCentral, Saskatchewan credit unions are a major supporter of the Regina Adult Learning Centre (ALC), a unique community-based program that assists young adults in building employment, social, and personal skills to support themselves and their families. Credit union contributions help thirty-six people to participate in the program each year. But the relationship goes beyond monetary support. The co-operative principle of concern for community is clearly visible in this venture, which actively encourages SaskCentral employees to volunteer a portion of their work time to serve as mentors and on ALC’s board. This commitment to community is typical of credit unions across the country.